OCHA: Rains take heavy toll on displaced families in Gaza                                                                         

14 November 2025

OCHA says that today’s rains have had a harsh impact on people across the Gaza Strip. Initial reports indicate that hundreds of tents and makeshift shelters were flooded. OCHA has also heard of damage to people’s personal belongings and thousands of displaced families left fully exposed to the harsh weather – increasing health and protection concerns, especially for older people, those with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.

OCHA notes that many families in Gaza are living in improvised or sub-standard shelters or in low-lying areas that are poorly equipped and prone to flooding.

Partners working to provide shelter support deployed rapid response teams today and for many weeks have been doing everything possible to lessen the impact of anticipated rains on people across Gaza.

Just yesterday, they distributed about 1,000 tents to families in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis. Between Sunday and Wednesday, they provided about 7,000 blankets to more than 1,800 households; some 15,000 tarpaulins to more than 3,700 households; and winter clothing to more than 500 households. That assistance is in addition to other essential items. Over the same four-day span, they collected more than 16,000 tents and 10,000 additional blankets from the crossings to further scale up the response. Since the ceasefire, they have distributed over 15,000 tents so far.

Meanwhile, partners leading on water and sanitation report recent progress in repairing sewage pumping stations, which decreases the risk of sewage overflowing into areas where people are sheltering.

At the same time, partners working on shelter stress that proper flood prevention requires equipment that is not available in Gaza – including tools to drain water away from tents and to clear solid waste and rubble. Millions of urgently needed shelter items remain stuck in Jordan, Egypt and Israel, awaiting approvals to enter Gaza.

Since the ceasefire began on 10 October, the Israeli authorities have rejected 23 requests from nine partners to bring in nearly 4,000 pallets of critical supplies – including tents, sealing and framing kits, bedding, kitchen sets and blankets. Shelter partners say that the main barrier remains restrictive NGO registration rules: In all but two of the 23 rejections, the reason given was that the submitting organizations were not authorized to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The dire living conditions are also increasing people’s exposure to explosive ordnance – with children among those most at risk. Some people have been injured while collecting firewood; others are having to pitch tents near areas suspected of containing unexploded remnants simply because they have no safer options. Since the ceasefire, partners working on mine action have recorded more than 10 injuries from explosive hazards.

This risk is further compounded by Gaza’s extremely limited geographical size, which leaves little room to avoid areas suspected of contamination. The density of the population and the proximity of civilian infrastructure to potential hazard zones mean that even minimal contamination can have widespread and devastating consequences.

Since the ceasefire, partners have responded to more than 70 requests for explosive hazard assessments, supported 32 inter-agency missions, and delivered risk education sessions to over 49,000 people across the Gaza Strip. The UN Mine Action Service says it could do much more as soon as teams get access to detectors, spare parts and equipment needed to safely dispose of explosive hazards.

OCHA underscores the need for the full and sustained opening of existing and additional crossings, clearance of further critical items and equipment for entry, and comprehensive facilitation of UN agencies and NGOs’ operations.